Professional Volunteer - Low Vision Train of Trainers Course Development Workgroup Expand Professional Volunteer Role Title: Low Vision Train of Trainers Course Development Workgroup Job Location: In volunteer’s country of residence Salary: This is a volunteer opportunity which is unpaid. Workgroup Dates: May, it is expected to take 4 - 6 months depending on work required Number of Team Members required: 2 - 4 Closing date for applicants: 19 April 20 Informal interviews will take place at a mutually agreed date. Aim of the Workgroup Low Vision remains a neglected area of eye health across Zambia, which led VAO to develop a 2-week low vision course that has so far benefitted 62 eye health professionals in Zambia. This has been so well received that we are now planning to train local professionals, who have received training and have experience of working in Low Vision, to deliver the training themselves in future, through a “training of trainers” (ToT) workshop to ensure the skills remain in the country in the long term. This workgroup will create training materials for a ToT course in Low Vision Services, which will help build the capacity of the Human Resources for Eye Health (HReH) in Zambia as the trainees cascade the training to others. VAO are seeking volunteers to form a workgroup, working in their country of residence, to create training modules and delivery templates under the guidance of our Director for Education and Training. The workgroup will help create a train of trainers’ course and also to create a one-week basic course in Low Vision that the trainee will be able to take away with them so they are equipped to train others. The TOT course could include topics such as: Preparation, planning and trainee dynamics Facilitator skills Safeguarding How to train in rehabilitation How to train in Low Vision Setting up a LV unit How to motivate others to set up community support groups Practical course delivery Professional Skills Requirements A successful workgroup will have members with different strengths and skills, therefore we are looking for volunteers who have at least two of the following: Experience in creating training materials Train of Trainers course development Specialist skills in Low Vision Services An understanding of Safeguarding principles Current GOC registration (or equivalent) In addition, all volunteers must have: Excellent IT skills, including Skype, access to a computer Excellent understanding and support of VAO’s strategic vision, mission and strategies A proven background in training/academia OR recent optical education OR teaching experience (formal or informal) Ability to follow VAO format and style guide for materials prepared Ability to commit hours required over the time period (4-6 months) to complete materials and related tasks Ability to meet agreed deadlines for materials Professional Skills Requirements - Desirable All volunteers could have: Practical experience delivering workshops, practicals and tutorials Supervisory experience with undergraduates, pre-regs or trainees Delivery of CET or CPD sessions as author, presenter or facilitator Examples of education materials prepared by applicant Experience working in Google Drive: Documents, Sheets, Slides Role of the Volunteer As a member of the workgroup you will attend a monthly planning e-meeting at a mutually agreed time, respond to emails and take on tasks to work on from home. All work will need to be collated in Google Drive and you will work to a timeline of tasks, updating a work plan as each topic is completed. Workgroup members will be required to review existing materials and update them as detailed in the master work plan. Members will select topics and areas of course development they are confident in to work in. Some additional materials, including practical sessions will need to be created, to complement existing materials, which may need updating. Commitment Requirements It is expected that in addition to monthly e-meetings that volunteers will commit to approximately 2 days per month, which can be spread across the month in hourly blocks if preferred. In addition, volunteers must commit to time to respond to emails from the group or contacts they have reached out to. The Person Personal Requirements: An ability to work as a team Motivated to work remotely without supervision An ability to work to deadlines and see things through to the end Have a passion to support and strengthen HReH in the countries we work in Ability to understand and work in accordance to VAO’s aims, ethos and policies To be an ambassador of and promote VAO VAO’s policies can be read online https://www.visionaidoverseas.org/governance Financial Commitment This is an unpaid role. This role will NOT require any overseas travel. How to apply Please email a professional CV [email protected] by the closing date above. In the body of your email please state why you think you would be suitable for this role, highlighting your relevant experience. Please put the reference in the subject line of the email. If you have any questions or would like to know more before applying please email [email protected] or [email protected] To see a PDF version of this job ad click here.
Professional Volunteer - Refraction Materials Update Workgroup Expand Professional Volunteer Role Title: Refraction Materials Update Workgroup Job Location: In volunteer’s country of residence Salary: This is a volunteer opportunity which is unpaid. Workgroup Dates: May, it is expected to take about 6 months depending on work required Number of Team Members required: 4 - 6 Qualifications required: GOC (or equivalent) Optometrist or Dispensing Optician Closing date for applicants: 19 April 20 Informal interviews will take place at a mutually agreed date. Aim of the Workgroup Working within the global initiative for the reduction of avoidable and/or preventable blindness National Eye Health Strategic Plan 2017 -2021, Vision Aid Overseas, through Professional Volunteer engagement, delivers a 6-week refraction training course to teach basic refraction skills to a groups of Ophthalmic Clinical Officers and Ophthalmic Nurses who primarily work in district hospitals where a shortage of human resource for eye health (HReH) seriously affects the country’s work towards the prevention of avoidable blindness. Strengthening HReH with this course provides greater access to refractive eye care and increases the number of eye health referrals that receive treatment in eye health facilities and ensures people in rural areas access can basic eye health services as close to the family as possible. Topics in the course include: Vision and Visual Acuity Eye Structure and Function Refractive Errors and Correction Introduction to Lenses Best Vision Sphere Refraction Our training materials now need to be reviewed and updated. Working under the guidance of VAO’s Director for Education and Training, a small workgroup of volunteers, who delivered the course in 2019 in Zambia, have already started a baseline study into the work required and we are now looking to recruit a pool of Professional Volunteers to assist them in the next phase of work, of updating the materials and creating tutorials using VAO’s standard delivery templates. Professional Skills Requirements Essential All volunteers must have: Current GOC (or equivalent) registration Good IT skills, including Skype, Word, PowerPoint and Excel and access to a computer Excellent understanding and support of VAO’s strategic vision, mission and strategies A proven background in training or academia Recent optical education or teaching experience Ability to follow VAO format and style guide for materials prepared Ability to commit hours required over the time period (6 months) to complete materials and related tasks Ability to meet agreed deadlines for materials Desirable All volunteers could have: Practical experience delivering workshops, practicals and tutorials Supervisory experience with undergraduates, pre-regs or trainees Delivery of CET or CPD sessions as author, presenter or facilitator Examples of education materials prepared by applicant Experience working in Google Drive: Documents, Sheets, Slides Role of the Volunteer As a member of the workgroup you will attend monthly planning e-meetings at a mutually agreed time and take on tasks to work on from home. Work will be flexible and in your own time. All work will need to be formatted to VAO templates, style and guidelines (provided) and collated in Google Drive and a timeline of tasks will be updated as work is completed. Work will need to be completed to agreed deadlines. Workgroup members will be required to review existing materials and update them as detailed in the master work plan. Members will select topics and areas of refraction they are confident in to work in. Some additional materials, including practical sessions may need to be created, to complement the existing updated materials. Members may also be asked to peer review work by other members or contacts. Commitment Requirements It is expected that in addition to monthly e-meetings that volunteers will commit to approximately 2 days per month, which can be spread across the month in hourly blocks if preferred. In addition, volunteers must commit to time to respond to emails from the group or contacts they have reached out to. The Person Personal Requirements: An ability to work as a team Motivated to work remotely without supervision An ability to work to deadlines and see things through to the end Have a passion to support and strengthen HReH in the countries we work in Ability to understand and work in accordance to VAO’s aims, ethos and policies To be an ambassador of and promote VAO VAO’s policies can be read online https://www.visionaidoverseas.org/governance Financial Commitment This is an unpaid role. This role does not involve any overseas travel. How to apply Please email a professional CV [email protected] by the closing date above. In the body of your email please state why you think you would be suitable for this role, highlighting your relevant experience. Please put the reference in the subject line of the email. If you have any questions or would like to know more before applying please email [email protected] or [email protected] To see a PDF version of this job ad click here.
Professional Volunteer - Paediatric Optometry Training Materials Workgroup Expand Professional Volunteer Role Title: Paediatric Optometry & Case Management Materials & Course Development Workgroup Job Location: In volunteer’s country of residence Salary: This is a volunteer opportunity which is unpaid. Workgroup Dates: May 2020, it is expected to take about 6 months depending on work required (start date could be sooner if mutually agreeable) Number of Team Members required: 4 - 6 Qualifications required: GOC (or equivalent) Optometrist and Dispensing Optician, Paediatric Optometry Closing date for applicants: 19 April 20 Informal interviews will take place at a mutually agreed date. Aim of the Workgroup Clear vision and a good education go hand in hand. Research shows that 80% of what a child learns is processed through their eyes. This means that healthy eyes are critical to a child´s brain development, their ability to learn and reach their full potential at school and later in life. Currently, there are 12 million children around the world who are struggling to see the blackboard or their books right now, simply because they don’t have access to a pair of glasses. These children are three times more likely to fail at least one grade at school which can lead them to drop out of school all together. Most of these children live in rural areas of low-middle income countries, where access to health and education services are limited. We believe it is unacceptable that a child can miss out on their education for the cost of eye screenings, tests and a pair of glasses and therefore working with the Ministries of Health and Education and other partners, Vision Aid Overseas are supporting school eye health programmes in Zambia and Ethiopia, based on the internationally recognised standard guidelines for comprehensive school eye health programmes. In response to this work Vision Aid Overseas, plans to run a 2-week short CPD course in Paediatric Optometry to Ethiopian Optometrists and Ophthalmologists, who are trained in refraction, which will strengthen human resources in eye health. We are looking for a small team to form a workgroup to help us create this course and a library of paediatric materials to use across a range of training needs. Professional Skills Requirements Essential All volunteers must have: Current GOC (or equivalent) registration Good IT skills, including Skype, Word, PowerPoint and Excel and access to a computer Excellent understanding and support of VAO’s strategic vision, mission and strategies A proven background in training or academia Current experience in paediatric optometry and current evidence-based methodologies Recent optical education or teaching experience Ability to follow VAO format and style guide for materials prepared Ability to commit hours required over the time period (6 months) to complete materials and related tasks Ability to meet agreed deadlines for materials Desirable All volunteers could have: Practical experience delivering workshops, practicals and tutorials Supervisory experience with undergraduates, pre-regs or trainees Delivery of CET or CPD sessions as author, presenter or facilitator Examples of education materials prepared by applicant Experience working in Google Drive: Documents, Sheets, Slides Role of the Volunteer As a member of the workgroup you will attend monthly planning e-meetings at a mutually agreed time and take on tasks to work on from home. Work will be flexible and in your own time. All work will need to be formatted to VAO templates, style and guidelines (provided) and collated in Google Drive and a timeline of tasks will be updated as work is completed. Work will need to be completed to agreed deadlines. Workgroup members will be required to review existing materials and update them as detailed in the master work plan. Members will select topics and areas they are confident in to work in. Some additional materials, including practical sessions may need to be created, to complement the existing updated materials. Members may also be asked to peer review work by other members or contacts. Commitment Requirements It is expected that in addition to monthly e-meetings that volunteers will commit to approximately 2 days per month, which can be spread across the month in hourly blocks if preferred. In addition, volunteers must commit to time to respond to emails from the group or contacts they have reached out to. The Person Personal Requirements: An ability to work as a team Motivated to work remotely without supervision An ability to work to deadlines and see things through to the end Have a passion to support and strengthen HReH in the countries VAO work in Ability to understand and work in accordance to VAO’s aims, ethos and policies. To be an ambassador of and promote VAO. VAO’s policies can be read online https://www.visionaidoverseas.org/governance Financial Commitment This is an unpaid role. This role will not require overseas travel. How to apply Please email a professional CV [email protected] by the closing date above. In the body of your email please state why you think you would be suitable for this role, highlighting your relevant experience. Please put the reference in the subject line of the email. If you have any questions or would like to know more before applying please email [email protected] or [email protected] To see a PDF version of this job ad click here.
Professional Volunteer - Equipment Maintenance Workgroup Expand Professional Volunteer Role Title: Equipment Maintenance Workgroup Job Location: In volunteer’s country of residence Salary: This is a volunteer opportunity which is unpaid. Workgroup Dates: June, it is expected to take about 6 months depending on work required Number of Team Members required: 4 - 6 Qualifications required: The workgroup will need at least 50% of members to have an Optical technical background, especially around the equipment used at our vision centres. Closing date for applicants: 08 May 2020 Informal interviews will take place at a mutually agreed date. Aim of the Workgroup When the VCs are equipped maintenance training is given, however, often support is needed at a later date or there are staff changes in the VC. If the equipment is not maintained it will cease to work correctly and eventually break. VCs are not in the position to replace and in some countries, technicians to repair are rare or expensive. Regular maintenance of equipment is important to keep equipment running. VAO are looking for volunteers to help us develop a library of written and video tutorials to be used by the Vision Centres to help them maintain the equipment. It is expected the work will include the following tasks: Baseline study of what equipment is used by the VCs that need regular maintenance including equipment details and how the VCs can access the materials Find out what tutorials are already available within VAO Online research into existing public tutorials Contact manufacturers for tutorials Create digital tutorials (Internet and CD based) The tutorials will be tested at a selection of Vision Centres by VC staff- feedback collated Review tutorials Roll out Tutorials Professional Skills Requirements It is expected the workgroup will be made up of a mix of volunteers of optical technicians and other professions without technical experience. All volunteers must have: Good IT skills, including Skype, and access to a computer or tablet An optical background, with workshop and glazing skills Excellent understanding and support of VAO’s strategic vision, mission and strategies. Skill sharing optical methods and practices Ideally, Experience of using YouTube style tutorials Ideally, have visited one of our vision centres Ideally, having access to a technical lab Role of the Volunteer As a member of the workgroup you will attend monthly planning e-meetings at a mutually agreed time and take on tasks to work on from home. There will be some informal form filling and reporting which will be fed back via group emails or the meetings. There will be a lot of internet research. Volunteers with the appropriate technical knowledge will be required to assess any tutorials that are already available to check they are correct and fit for purpose. There is no overseas travel involved within this role. Commitment Requirements It is expected that in addition to monthly e-meetings that volunteers will commit to approximately 2 days per month, which can be spread across the month in hourly blocks if preferred. In addition, time to respond to emails from the group or contacts you have reached out to. The Person Personal Requirements: An ability to work as a team Motivated to work remotely without supervision An ability to work to deadlines and see things through to the end Have a passion to support and strengthen our vision centres To understand and work in accordance to VAO’s aims, ethos and policies. VAO’s policies can be read online https://www.visionaidoverseas.org/governance Financial Commitment This is an unpaid role. This role will not require overseas travel. How to apply Please email [email protected].org by the closing date above. Please put the reference in the subject line of the email. In the body of the email please explain why you think you would be suitable as a member of this workgroup, highlighting relevant experience and skills. You can apply for more than one volunteer role that is advertised but please do so on separate emails (even if the content is the same) making sure the correct reference and country is in the subject line for each application. To see a PDF version of this job ad click here.